Disposable single-dose containers, for example made of deep-drawn plastic, for one-time discharge of the contents are becoming increasingly more preferred by the pharmaceutical industry for sanitary as well as other reasons. Examples of suitable pharmaceutical compositions with which such containers may be filled are solutions, ointments, emulsions, syrups and powders. In order to facilitate the discharge of the contents, a thread is simultaneously sealed into the discharge channel during the sealing step of the container manufacturing process. After completion of the sealing step, one end of the thread extends into the interior of the single-dose container, its middle portion fills the discharge channel of the container, and the other end is sealed in a severable closure in which the discharge channel terminates. When the severable closure is twisted or broken off, which may be facilitated by means of score lines or the like, the thread is simultaneously withdrawn from the discharge channel, so that the contents of the container can be expelled therefrom by applying pressure to the sides of the container.
For the manufacture of such pharmaceutical single-dose containers with opening threads, two endless foil ribbons which are coated with a plastic layer capable of being sealed are passed in parallel relationship, with the plastic layers facing each other, through a pre-shaping device, where the two mirror image symmetrical halves of the container are formed by stamping or deep-drawing, for example. The foil ribbons then pass on over guide means, such as rollers, to a preliminary sealing station to which the opening thread insertion device is attached. In this preliminary sealing station the opening thread is inserted, and the outer edges of the pre-shaped container halves on the foil ribbons are sealed together, except for a portion in the upper section which must remain open to permit subsequent filling of the container; the opening thread is also partially sealed in during this operation. Thereafter, the protruding thread ends can be cut to the predetermined length; alternatively, in conjunction with suitable feeding means, the thread can be premeasured to the desired length, for instance by cutting or notching. Subsequently, the unit of partly sealed containers, which are still open at the top, pass to the filling station where they are filled. The units then advance into the final sealing station where the filling aperture is sealed and the threads can, if desired, be hermetically sealed in, thereby preventing an escape of, for example, a liquid product as a result of capillaries along the thread. In a further apparatus (stamping station) the individual containers receive their final appearance by stamping.